NXT TakeOver: In Your House (June 2021)

Original Airdate: June 13, 2021

 

From Orlando, Florida; Your Hosts are Vic Joseph, Wade Barrett, and Beth Phoenix

 

Opening NXT North American Title, NXT Tag Team Title Six-Man Tag Team Match: Bronson Reed, Nash Carter, and Wes Les v Santos Escobar, Joaquin Wilde, and Raul Mendoza: We get some intense criss crossing and stalemate reversal sequences to start, and they're just way, way too choreographed here. Like, we've passed the point where they're even flirting with believability anymore. It's not long before we get a series of dives for a dog pile sequence, and they settle into cutting the ring in half on Wes. Reed gets the tag and hits a triple Samoan drop, and Roseanne Barr the door! Reed with a flying splash to retain everything at 13:32. Technically fine, but not my style of wrestling at all. ½*

 

Mercedes Martinez v Xia Li: They spill to the outside right away, where Li hits her with a few kicks, and back in we go. Li charges, so Martinez blocks her with a backdrop, and she pounds Xia in the corner. Suplex sends Li to the apron, but she fights Martinez off with a cobra clutch on the ropes, and they spill to the outside again. Martinez eats the post out there, and Li is in control as they head back inside. A kick misses, causing Li to injure herself, and Martinez manages a suplex. Corner splash, but Li dodges, and she delivers a suplex of her own. That bad leg slows down the follow up, however, and Martinez uses a pop-up in the corner. Crucifix press-slam gets two, and a high knee connects, so Boa pulls Li out of the ring to keep her from getting finished off. Martinez chases for a backdrop on the floor, and I see Beth Phoenix has taken to dressing like Jerry Lawler now. That's interesting. Martinez takes it back inside, but Li kicks her in the head, and scores the pin at 7:39. This was really rough, like two very green workers trying to get through their first big match, or something. ½*

 

Million Dollar Belt Ladder Match: Cameron Grimes v LA Knight: Winner gets the special prize vanity belt, courtesy of Ted DiBiase. They measure each other to start, dominated by Grimes. Rana sends Knight to the outside, but he comes back with a ladder, chucking it at Grimes. Though he misses, the distraction allows him a clothesline, and he dumps Grimes to the outside. Time to climb, but Grimes comes up the other side, and both guys end up falling off. Tug of war with the ladder ends in Knight getting knocked to the outside with a big boot, but Grimes gets sent into the steps out there when he follows. Inside, Grimes reverses a suplex into the ladder, but another reversal sequence ends in Knight delivering a neckbreaker onto it. Whip into the ladder gets reversed, allowing Grimes a series of kicks, and Knight gets slammed onto a planked ladder. Grimes has a clear path to the belt, but wants to waste time bringing in a special gold colored ladder, and he gets tipped over before he can grab it. Knight then wastes time setting up a ladder/plank deal, but it goes nowhere when Grimes blocks. Grimes ends up climbing one of the pillars at ringside for a dive at Knight on the floor, and he goes for the belt, but Knight tries powerbombing him off the ladder, so Grimes counters with a rana over the top. That allows Grimes to climb again, but this time Knight tips him over, and Grimes takes a nasty bump onto the planked ladder from earlier. That allows Knight to climb again, and he wins it at 19:21. * ¼

 

NXT Women's Title Match: Raquel Gonzalez v Ember Moon: Moon blitzes her at the bell, but a distraction from Dakota Kai causes her to run her knee into the post, and Gonzalez sends her flying into the barricade to turn the tide. Inside, that gets Gonzalez two, and she uses a sidewalk slam to set up and corkscrew pump-splash for two. Gonzalez with an overhead backbreaker to try and coax a submission, but Moon won't give, so Gonzalez turns it into a slam for two. Moon fires back with a superkick and an enzuigiri, then another superkick, since she's boring. Canadian destroyer gets her two, but Kai helps Gonzalez into the ropes to escape a submission, and the champ bails. Moon dives at her with a tope, and a reverse STO gets her two on the way back inside. Eclipse, but Kai distracts her again, and Gonzalez capitalizes with a superplex for two. Chokeslam, but Moon counters with a victory cradle for two, so Gonzalez fires off a big boot for two. Vertical suplex, but Moon counters with a cutter on the way down, and a chincrusher buys her enough time to dive off the middle with a double knee facebuster. Eclipse connects, but Kai puts the champ in the ropes at two. That finally draws Shotzi Blackheart out to back Moon up, and she chases Kai away like Walter Peyton! Moon stays on the champion with a shot into the post, and she adds a tornado DDT onto the ramp. Inside, Moon hooks the leg for two, so she goes up for another Eclipse, but this time Gonzalez blocks. Reversal sequence ends in Gonzalez using a snake-eyes to set up a chokeslam, and she retains at 12:38. **

 

Main Event: NXT Title Fatal Five-Way Match: Karrion Kross v Adam Cole v Johnny Gargano v Pete Dunne v Kyle O'Reilly: First fall wins it. Dunne wearing all white is a weird look. Everyone but Kross and Dunne spill to the outside to start, since that's how wrestling works in 2021. Kross suplexes him to clear the ring, but Kyle comes in to take his chance against the champ, and manages to get Kross in a kneebar, but Kross powers to a vertical base for a suplex. Kyle bails, and here comes Gargano. He goes for the Escape early, but Kross blocks, so Gargano clips the leg instead. Headscissors puts Kross in the corner, but a charge gets him suplexed, and he bails. That allows Cole to come in, but Dunne pulls him to the outside before he can do much, and all the other challengers gang up on him. Kross pulls the weakened Cole in to abuse, but Pete finally realizes that more than two people are actually allowed in at a time, and he attacks. Kross fights he and Gargano off with a double suplex, but Kyle manages to put the champion down with a series of strikes, and stands as king of the hill. He puts Cole in a cross-armbreaker, but Dune breaks it up by putting Kyle in his own submission, but Kross breaks it up by powerbombing Dunne onto Kyle and Johnny. Kross stalks Cole up the aisle for a powerbomb on the ramp, but Adam blocks, and Dunne/Gargano work together to shove the champion through a piece of the house set. This modern version of the set feels so soulless compared to the classic 90s one. Meanwhile, Cole hits Kyle with a fireman’s neckbreaker in the ring, but it only gets two. Panama sunrise, but Kyle dodges, and Gargano capitalizes by hanging them both in a tree of woe. He goes for a big strike, but Dunne schoolboys him for two. Bitter End, but Gargano counters with a DDT, and he chucks Dunne like a dart into the tree of woe from earlier! All the challengers trade strikes for a four-way knockout, and Cole manages to roll over to cover Gargano for two. Kross returns to brutalize everyone, suplexing guys over the barricade, and powerbombing Gargano into the apron. He rolls Johnny in to finish with a fireman’s carry slam, but Gargano kicks out at two. Gargano comes back with a tornado DDT, and he adds a tope to block a recovering Kyle. Tope into a DDT on the floor for Dunne, but Cole manages to superkick him. Last Shot, but Gargano counters to the Escape, only for Cole to block. Reversal sequence ends in Cole trying the sunrise, but Gargano counters with a backdrop driver for two. That was a nice little sequence. Kyle sneaks in with a bridging side suplex on Cole for two, as the announcers talk about the 'largest crowd ever' in this arena. Cool, but it's literally, like, 500 people. Even ECW wouldn't be bragging about that. Kross returns to take everyone to suplex city, but he gets overwhelmed fighting a multi-front war, and ends up taking a brutal powerbomb onto the announce table. It didn't break, and the poor guy just bounced off the damn thing. With Kross down and out on the outside, the other four slug it out in the ring, and Dunne and Kyle each get a submission on. Realizing they both can't win, they let off to slug it out, and Dunne puts him in a guillotine, but Kyle escapes. Pete tries a triangle choke, but Gargano saves with a slingshot spear, and Cole hits Kyle with a suplex-neckbreaker for two. Dunne tries a flying moonsault press, but Cole blocks with a superkick for two, so Gargano hits Adam with a slingshot DDT for two. Johnny puts both Pete and Adam in the Escape, but Kyle breaks it up before anyone can tap. He unloads on Gargano, and a brainbuster sets up a dive, but Adam shoves him to the floor before he can execute it. That allows Cole the sunrise, but Dunne pulls him out of the ring at two, and delivers a brainbuster on the floor. Just as that happens, Kross recovers, and wants to slug it out with Pete. Dunne gets the better of him, and the Bitter End is worth two. Triangle choke looks to put it away, but the others break it up. Dunne responds by unloading on them all, but Kross comes back with a double saito suplex on Cole and Dunne, and he puts Pete in a sleeper. Dunne snaps the fingers to escape, and everyone piles on. Kyle manages a flying knee on the champion, but Cole breaks his pin at two. Cole tries a Last Shot on Kyle, but gets countered into a grapevine, and he's close to tapping before Kross comes over and puts Kyle to sleep at 26:16. I liked this, and I was into it throughout, but the 'only two guys in the ring at a time' cliché is getting really annoying. If you want to work them that way, why not just make it tag rules? It would be such a huge improvement, and add a different psychology. *** ¼

BUExperience: Remember back in the 90s when one really good match was enough to make an In Your House? Yeah, this ain’t the 90s.

DUD